Etheria Restart Gacha System Explained: Pity, Soft Pity, Banner Types, and Currency
Etheria Restart’s gacha looks complicated at first, but it boils down to two ticket types, a shared base pity structure, and a very important split between cheaper “original” banners and expensive “supreme” / Light–Dark banners. Understanding how pity, soft pity, and currencies work will save a huge amount of Hydra Crystals over time.
Core currencies and tickets
All summons ultimately come from Hydra Crystals, which convert into gacha tickets.
- Hydra Crystals: Premium currency used for everything from refills to buying summon tickets; early guides recommend prioritising stamina and standard banners over Light/Dark banners due to cost.
- Anima Prototypes: Standard tickets for permanent and most rate‑up banners that focus on “original” units; typically bought at 100 Hydra Crystals per ticket and also dropped by quests, events, Arena, and shops.
- Apex Prototypes: Premium tickets for “supreme” and Light/Dark focused banners; these often cost 300 Hydra Crystals per ticket and are much rarer.
F2P and low‑spend guides strongly advise treating Apex pulls as late‑game luxury and using most early Crystals on Anima‑based banners instead.
Banner types and what they’re for
Etheria Restart currently runs several distinct banner types, each with its own pool and currency.
- Permanent / Standard Summon (Anima): Always‑on banner with both original and supreme SSR/SR units at base rates like 0.75% for original SSR and 0.25% for supreme SSR, plus higher SR rates; uses Anima Prototypes or 100‑Crystal pulls.
- Rate‑Up/Targeted Standard Banners: Focused banners that share the same base pity as standard but boost the chance of a specific original SSR; they generally use the same Anima currency as the permanent banner.
- Supreme / Extre‑Affinity Summon: Permanent or semi‑permanent banners that only feature supreme SSR and SR units tied to specific attributes (constant/disorder), but require Apex Prototypes at around 300 Crystals each.
- Limited Character Banners (Light Judgement, etc.): Time‑limited banners for new units, often using Apex Prototypes and guaranteeing the featured SSR at hard pity with no 50/50, but at much higher Crystal cost per pull.
- Light/Dark Focus Banners: Special banners for Light/Dark animus that have their own pool and cost, sometimes with no standard SRs in the pool and higher Apex costs, making them particularly expensive for F2P.
Because some banners share pity and currency while others don’t, it is critical to know which pools your Anima and Apex Prototypes apply to before you start pulling.
Pity and soft pity explained
Etheria Restart has both soft pity and hard pity, varying slightly by banner type but following the same general model.
- Standard / original banners:
- Limited “targeted” banners:
- Hard pity: Initially tested at 100 pulls, later reduced to around 80 pulls for official release on targeted banners according to dev notes and community threads.
- No 50/50 on featured SSR: When you hit an SSR on a limited banner, it is always the featured unit, not a coin‑flip between rate‑up and off‑banner.
- Supreme / Light–Dark banners:
If you pull an SSR before hard pity, the soft pity counter resets for that banner, so each banner effectively tracks its own pity separately.
F2P and low‑spend strategy for this gacha
Because the system is complex and Light/Dark banners are extremely expensive, most F2P and low‑spend advice converges on a few simple rules.
- Focus Anima pulls on permanent and good rate‑up banners that share the cheap 100‑Crystal rate and 50/80 soft–hard pity structure.
- Avoid using Hydra Crystals directly on Light/Dark or Apex‑only banners until your account is very stable; the 300‑Crystal cost per pull and same pity count can burn entire months of income on one unit.
- Treat Apex Prototypes as extremely premium: use them on top‑tier supreme banners or when a featured unit is genuinely account‑changing, not simply because it is new.
- Never swap banners mid‑way to pity unless you fully understand which banners have shared vs separate pity; community explainers stress committing to one banner per pity cycle to avoid “wasting” soft pity ramps.
Used intelligently, Etheria Restart’s gacha can be navigated without spending heavily—by staying on cheap Anima banners with soft pity and guaranteed rate‑up SSRs at hard pity—while leaving the more punishing Light/Dark and Apex banners to whales and late‑game accounts.
